I'm a big advocate for making your practice yours, and no one is better at that than children. Children tend to be so free and comfortable in their own skin. It’s one of the things that makes them such a joy to teach.

When I teach children yoga, it’s not my goal to have a 5 year old in a perfect tree pose nor is it my goal to get them into a headstand. My goals when teaching children are simple, I want them to acquire body awareness,explore different types of movement, become familiar with yoga, foster creativity, increase their self-esteem, and have fun!

I never correct children in poses. I show them the pose and allow them to mimic me in whatever fashion they’re feeling at the moment. Their little bodies aren’t as mature as ours, they are still developing, it’s important toteach them to be kind to themselves and to remember that their proportions and ability to move aren’t the same as ours. In addition, I never, ever, want to make a child feel disappointed in themselves, their ability, or their body while in yoga class.

During class, I always encourage children to create their own pose and they come up with some pretty interesting stuff! It's always great to watch and see what crazy fun poses they want to do and to see the smile on their faces when they are allowed to express themselves and show off their creativity.

Remember parents, if you take your child to a yoga class and they seem as if they aren’t participating, they aren’t listening, or maybe they’re running around and doing something different, that’s ok. Just having them there is a great start and maybe after a class or two, they’ll begin to participate.